Kiba and Shino shop for a birthday gift for Hinata. Kiba's choice of gifts drives a series of events that lead him into a sudden realization of emotions he never knew he had. Wonderful fluffy goodness!

Kiba doubled over,
coughing. When he caught his breath again, he stared up at Shino.
"What the hell did you do that for, Shino?" The taller young man
raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. What is his problem? He
sure has been touchy today. They were shopping for Hinata's
birthday gifts. Kiba really wanted to find something special for
her, since she was always willing to help him out. And he had just
pointed at something that he thought she would really like, when
Shino had punched him in the stomach. What the hell was the guy
thinking?

The necklace sat on its
stand behind the glass of the case. It was silver, with a long chain
that had links of three different sizes. There was a pendant hanging
from it that he thought was an opal, though he wasn't sure. It
reminded him of her eyes. Shino cocked his head to one side behind
the high collar of his coat, looking down at it. He turned to Kiba.
"Do you really want to get her something like that? She might take
it the wrong way and pass out." Kiba blinked in surprise. He had
not been thinking about that. He had only been trying to find
something he was sure she would like. When he told Shino this, the
solemn young man's shoulders shook in silent laughter.

Normally, Kiba followed
his teammate's advice. But he had never really liked being laughed
at. So, grumbling, he paid for the necklace and had the clerk put it
in a small box, wrap it up in shiny white paper and put a nice silver
ribbon around it. He mumbled for Shino to continue his shopping by
himself, and stuffed the box into his pocket, stalking away. "Arf!"
Akamaru came trotting up to him, and jumped into his arms. The dog
whined. "It's ok, Akamaru. I'm just a little mad at Shino.
It's not like I'm trying to…" He blinked. Oh.
Kiba's hand strayed to the squarish bulge in his coat pocket. That
would be a problem, then, wouldn't it?

Walking through the
light snowfall, Kiba kicked at chunks of it with the toes of his
sandals. All the while, he thought. His relationship with Hinata
was just him being protective of his teammate, no matter what Shino
might think. Or was it? Ga! Stop that, man! You really don't
need to start thinking that way about Hinata. Neji will kick your
ass! Just thinking about the older shinobi and the way he looked
at him gave him the creeps. He always seemed like he was on point of
smacking Kiba. Hard. The both of them were very protective of
Hinata, and if anything, they should have been friends because of
that. And it was for that reason he didn't understand what Neji's
problem was.

Akamaru scrambled up
into his jacket, clinging on behind his neck. Kiba pulled his hood
further over his face. The wind was getting colder since the sun was
about to set. Hurrying up the street to his house, the square
package kept bumping against his leg. I'm not going to start
feeling guilty about doing something nice for Hinata. That
sounded way too much like something Shino would do, all because he
was constantly thinking of the team, and how what he did with and for
Kiba and Hinata would affect the "dynamics of the team."
Bullshit, Shino. You just don't wanna get too close to anybody.
You might like it too much. This made him snort in laughter,
and Akamaru made an inquisitive whine behind him.

"Nothing, buddy.
Nothing at all." He reassured his friend before doubling his pace.
Running for a few minutes, he stopped thinking. Sometimes, it was
just easier not to think at all. Then, he noticed how close he was
to his house. He slowed to a light run, then to a trot. As he
rounded the corner onto his street, he ran into something solid.
"Oof!" He yelled in surprise as he knocked the solid thing to
the ground.

Sitting there in the
snow, glaring up at him, was Ino. "Gomen, Ino-chan!" He was
just about to keep on moving toward his house when she grabbed the
leg of his pants. "What is it, Ino-chan?" The girl raised an
eyebrow, and he realized that he was being really rude. "Ah…"
He reached down and grabbed her hand, hauling her up off of the
ground. Instantly, the girl was all smiles. His eyes narrowed.
What's going on?

"Kiba-kun…just the
man I wanted to see." Ino crossed her arms under her breasts and
smirked. Kiba didn't like the look of this, and he glanced around
for an escape route. Akamaru's small whimper next to his ear told
him that she was up to something, alright. "You know what Thursday
is?"

This took him by
surprise. "Uh, the twenty-seventh?"

Ino's smirk grew.
"Exactly. And what is the significance of that date?"

Finally, he caught on.
Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief. He thought she was really
going to do something evil to him. "Um, it's Hinata-chan's
birthday."

"Very, good. A smart
boy, just as I thought. So, I was wondering. Did you get Hinata
anything yet?" He nodded. She smiled. "Good. I was just on my
way to find you and Shino, since I know you'd want to be in on the
surprise party." She looked around, suddenly alarmed. "Um, can
we go inside? I don't want anyone to hear me plotting." Kiba
blinked, his surprise showing all over his face. He was also trying
not to laugh at her paranoia. He nodded, sighing, and led her over
to his house.

"So where are we
supposed to have this party, anyway?" He asked, munching on potato
chips. Ino sat on the couch, her legs crossed, leaning on the arm of
the couch. She pursed her lips.

"Well, I was
wondering that myself. I thought we could have it at my house, but I
was going to get a few more people before I made any real decisions.
My parents are fine with it, and have offered to buy all of the
supplies, even though Chouji will definitely be coming, and they know
how much he eats…But anyway. I was wondering, Kiba, if you would
be the one to lure her to my house for the party." Ino's sly
look did not escape him.

What the hell?
Everyone is going nuts. Me included. "Ino, how am I supposed
to do that?" He shook his bag of chips at her, and talked with his
mouth full. It came out more like, "M-no, ow m'I pose ta do
'at?" Ino glared at him, and he swallowed his food. He repeated
himself so that she could understand, and then she laughed.

"Kiba, you're a
smart guy. You should be able to think of something. Why not ask
Shino? Maybe he can help?"

"Hell no. I'm not
talking to that jerk right now." Kiba fumed silently over the fact
that Shino had punched him for no real reason other than to get his
attention. It was something that Naruto would do, not Shino. Yep.
Everybody's nuts lately. "You gotta help me think of
something if you're gonna volunteer me for this, Ino-chan."

The blond kunoichi sat
and was obviously in deep thought for some time. Then, a wide smile
spread across her features. "You could say that it's a date!"

Kiba's jaw dropped,
and hung open for a good thirty seconds. A date? But that would
mean that I would have to pretend to be interested in her…Just
then, a small voice in the back of his head said in a very sly tone,
who said anything about pretending, baka? You got her that
present, against your and Shino's better judgment, all because you
thought she'd like it, and because it reminded you of her eyes!Shut up. I can't think of her that way. I just can't. The
part about the present was true, but really, did he have to ask her
on a date? "Ino-chan, I'm not sure that it's a good idea.
Wouldn't that be messing with Hinata's emotions?" Kiba was
fighting a blush after that mental conversation with himself. "I
mean, you know how sensitive she is…"

Ino nodded, thinking.
"Well, unless you come up with a better idea, Kiba, dear, we'll
just have to go with that." He really wished he hadn't let her
in his house. She was still grinning slyly at him. What was she up
to? She must really like watching him squirm.

"I swear, Ino, if
this ends up hurting Hinata in any way, I'm coming after you, and
I'm not gonna hold back."

Her grin faltered for
only a fraction of a second, at his tone. An instant later, however,
it was back. "Why, Kiba-kun, I don't know what you mean! What's
this protectiveness for? Or, maybe it's not protective…is it
possessive?" His hackles started to rise, and a low growl
rumbled in his throat. Ino held her hands up in a defensive gesture.
"Wow. You really can't take a joke today, can you, Kiba?"
Slowly, he began to calm down. Why did she always have to push his
buttons like that? It was really annoying. Maybe that's why
Shikamaru just pretended not to hear her most of the time. Getting
frustrated with her only egged her on, it seemed.

"Who else have you
recruited into this plot of yours?" He asked curtly.

"Well, so far, it's
me, you, Shikamaru, Chouji, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke, but only
because Naruto made him. Really, what is that guy's problem?"
Ino's preference for Sasuke seemed to have evaporated suddenly one
day, though it was not entirely unexplained. It was because that
idiot had run off that her teammates had to go after him, and it was
because of him that Chouji had nearly died. She and Chouji trained
constantly now, and Shikamaru was having trouble keeping up.
Chouji's girth had shrunk considerably, though Ino started to worry
about him if he got too thin. Kiba would never understand
women, especially not Ino.

"What about Neji and
Tenten and Lee?"

"Well, I haven't
really gotten to them, yet. They were my next stops. Also, I was
wondering if you could talk to Kurenai-sensei for me. She loves
Hinata like she's her daughter. Could you invite her for me?"
Ino's voice had taken on a strange tone, and he saw that she was
thinking, looking inward. She rose and started for the door. "I
have to go now, Kiba. I'll talk to you about this tomorrow. Meet
me at noon, at the bridge?" He nodded. She walked out, closing
the door softly behind her.

Boy, is that a weird
woman. He sighed. He was being forced to ask Hinata on a fake
date, and that bothered him. It wasn't just that she was his
teammate and he didn't want her to get hurt, but there was
something in him that wanted her to be happy, and he didn't see
this making her happy at all. Wait a minute! She said Naruto was
already in on it, so why didn't she ask him? Oh, Ino,
you're gonna pay for this! He growled in his throat again, and
Akamaru jumped out of his coat, and sat there looking up at him. The
dog had his head cocked to one side, as if to ask, "Are you ok?"

He sighed and nodded to
Akamaru. "I'll be fine, buddy. Just as soon as this is all
over." Kiba reached into his pocket and pulled out the present he
had gotten for Hinata. This sucks. As he looked it over, he
wondered how he was going to pull off asking Hinata out on a date
without sounding like a total idiot. He also wondered how he was not
going to get his face pounded by Neji. Again, he thought of the
situation he was in, and said aloud, "Akamaru, my friend, this
whole thing sucks." The dog let out a loud "Arf!" of
agreement.

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